


It's Never Too Late

by NicNack4U



Series: SPN Season 15 Codas [12]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst and Feels, Bars and Pubs, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Coda, Dean Winchester & Leo Webb Breakup, Dean Winchester & Leo Webb Friendship, Episode: s15e03 The Rupture - Bunker Breakup Scene, Episode: s15e07 Last Call, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Hope, Hopeful Dean Winchester, Hopeful Ending, Language, M/M, POV Dean Winchester, POV Third Person, Post-Episode: s15e07 Last Call, Season/Series 15, Season/Series 15 Spoilers, based on a three days grace song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21842767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicNack4U/pseuds/NicNack4U
Summary: "Even if I sayIt'll be alrightStill I hear you sayYou want to end your lifeNow and again we tryTo just stay aliveMaybe we'll turn it all around'Cause it's not too lateIt's never too late."Or, Dean's finally feeling like they can actually beat God once and for all, and gets back into the game.
Relationships: Castiel & Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Series: SPN Season 15 Codas [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549549
Kudos: 11





	It's Never Too Late

**Author's Note:**

> HEY, YOOUUUU GUUUUUUUYS!!! 
> 
> A little late, but better late than never lol. 
> 
> I'll be posting my "Our Father Who Aren't In Heaven" coda right after I post this one. 
> 
> Umm, enjoy, I guess?? 
> 
> And hey, Happy Holidays!! :)

Man, he needed to get outta the friggin' bunker, or he was gonna fuckin' _explode_ from all the touchy-feel-y, happy crap that Sammy and Eileen were in the middle of showing. 

And okay, wow he did _not_ mean to sound _that_ bitter. 'Cause having Eileen back thanks to that spell that Rowena left them at her apartment before she died is a _win_ for them. 

After all this recent Chuck/God-betraying-them crap, having Eileen back is a _win_ , and it _finally_ feels like they - mostly Dean - can breathe a sigh of relief. 

And hey, the way that Eileen and Sam just clicked _instantly_ after her revival was actually kinda cute. He was totally happy for Sammy. Totally. Good for him. Friggin' good for _them_. 

And okay, wow, he sounds bitter again. Which he's not. (Okay, so he _might kinda-sorta_ be bitter, but where's _his_ win, huh? Where's Dean and Cas's fuckin' win, huh?! Cas still hadn't freakin' come back. Still hadn't answered his fuckin' phone. Still hadn't answered Dean and Sam's fuckin' prayers to him!)

(And what if he and Cas had that argument because that's what Chuck wanted? What if Cas _left because it's what God wanted to happen_?!) 

Nothing still feels real. Nothing feels _real_ anymore, except him and Sammy. _That_ he at least knows is still real, God or no God. 

Jesus, he needs to get outta this fuckin' building. It feels stifling. Makes him feel claustrophobic, for right now. He needs to get out.

Drive around, just him and Baby out in the open road, just for a bit. 

So, he takes a quick shower and dresses just as quick, finds Sam and Eileen in the bunker's library. He tells them what he's doing and tells them he wants to go alone and to not wait up for him. 

After that, it's just him and Baby for a few minutes, just aimlessly wandering 'round and around until he spots a bar. It wasn't his original destination - he didn't _have_ an original destination - but hey, what the Hell? 

Might as well go in while he's already there, right? 

So, that's what he does. And, dude, seriously; He actually kinda _missed_ this. The atmosphere and the vibe of a bar. The people and the waitresses and the bartenders. The _music_. Classic rock and old-school, classic country. Hell yeah! Now _this_ is real music! 

He's grabbing a table and giving his alcohol order to a nearby waitress when he spots a guy singing a song up on stage with a band behind him.

Wait just a friggin' sec... The dude up on stage... No fuckin' way! Awesome! No, seriously; This is truly _awesome_! Leo "Lee" Webb!! 

And everything's _even more_ awesome when Lee goads him into joining Lee up on stage with him. Lee tries to get Dean to sing with him, but he's literally never sang in front of a crowd like this before, so he's a bit reluctant. 

Lee pressures him a bit more, and suddenly it's like old times together again. They're singing together, pretending for just a moment that they're just like the rock stars they sang along to on Dad's cassette tapes. 

And it feels _fuckin' awesome_ to let go and just be able to be normal and have fun, if only for just this moment. 

After their song ends, they head on over to the the table that Dean called dibs on. The waitress who took Dean's drink order is there, setting his and Lee's drinks on the table. 

Lee starts flirting with her and a few twenty-somethings near them. He goads Dean into join in on the flirt fest. And okay, yeah, he's startin' to feel a little _something,_ but it's not enough. 

All he can think about is his and Cas's fight, and Cas's last words to him before he left the bunker. The finality of the door closing shut still rings in Dean's ears. The look on Cas's face just before he turned away from Dean and walked towards the door and walked out. 

He forces himself to shake his-self out of the painful memory and fakes a charming smile and lightly shrugs. He tells both Lee and the girl that he's just not feelin' it tonight, 

Lee and the girl give him a _look_ before the girl walks away. And now Lee's still giving him a look, like he's suddenly grown five heads or somethin'.

Everything's all cool again after that. Dean and Lee play pool, with each other and then with the bar patrons, hustling them out of their money.

And then, after that, things happen simultaneously and _way too fast_. 

There's a group of troublemakers stampeding their way in, and suddenly Dean's found himself in the middle of a bar fight.

A bar fight's not exactly the way he wanted to blow off some steam; Not the way he wanted to physically express his hurt, sadness, anger, rage.

It wasn't the way he wanted to express the depression he'd been goin' through ever since Mom died (again), ever since Jack, since Chuck/God betrayed them all, since Rowena, since Belphegor.

Since Cas left the bunker after his and Dean's fight without so much as a backwards glance at Dean. 

And yeah, it helps blow off some steam a little but, but not by much. He needs something else to punch. 

He wants to get back in the game and kill some douchebag monster. 

And as the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for." 

And oh, how Dean had wished he'd been careful wishing for a hunt, because he got what he wanted. Well, not really, because since when does he get to have what he truly wants?

What he didn't need or want was another betrayal from another friend, but that's what he got anyway. And it hurt. It hurt to know that Lee had fallen too deep and dark into the hunting life to dig himself out of it. 

Lee... Leo. Dean couldn't believe it, but the evidence was staring at him in the trunk of Lee's - no, Leo's - truck. He had the girl. He took her and killed her. 

He took and killed an innocent girl. He's feeling dizzy now and wants to throw up. Everything looks and feels fuzzy - in a bad way. He begs Lee - Leo - to explain.

But Leo's explanation has him feeling sick. He walks away from Leo and drives Baby around with no real destination. His thoughts are running too fast for him to keep up with, his heart feels like it's speeding up and slowing down all at once, and it feels like he can't breathe and yet he knows that he is in fact still breathing. 

He's not surprised to see that the spot he's arrived at is the bar, again. He parks Baby, takes the key out of the ignition, pockets them and heads inside. 

He's surprised to see it's empty. Like a ghost town. Where is everyone? Did they all go home? If they did, why's the door still unlocked?

He's surprised again when he steps further into the establishment and sees dead bodies; They were the waitresses, the bartender, the barmaid, the patrons. 

All innocents now dead. Dean swallows the huge lump that formed in his throat, and instantly goes into Hunter Mode. He slides his gun carefully but quickly out of his pocket, getting it ready and aiming it in front of him; His brows narrow as his eyes are laser-focused all around the building, darting his eyes and gun to and fro, trying to find the source of the violence. 

And _of course_ that's when things go to Hell in a handbasket _even more_ than they already were. 

Lee - _Leo, dammit! He's Leo to you now, Winchester!_ \- Leo's there. He's there in a spare backroom in the bar, with the new monster of the week - the Marid. 

Dean wants _so very badly_ to roll his eyes - or scream, yell or cry, _something_ \- but no, he allows himself to glare at Leo while listening to Leo monologue. 

And okay, yeah, Dean understands getting into the hunter life far too deep to crawl back out, but this? _This_? Using a creature for personal gains and popularity? 

Sure, his younger self might've understood, maybe; But, now? Nah, now Leo's a total douchebag that he doesn't wanna fight or even kill - but he might have to. 

He tries to get Leo to make things right, just one chance, just one try. But of course, Leo completely ignores Dean and starts fighting him.

Man, dammit, he really didn't wanna fight. But maybe this is what he truly needed to snap him out of his funk? 

He was getting tired of those hotdog PJs, junk food and _Scooby-Doo_ re-runs, anyway. 

Okay, maybe he's not yet tired of _Scooby-Doo_ re-runs. He'd still die for that dog. 

Dean mentally shakes his head and focuses his attention back onto fighting Leo. They're still fighting when Leo suddenly pauses and sics the Marid on him, Oh, great. 

So, he's fighting the Marid now and lures it away from Leo so that he can get a better killing shot at the thing. 

In the end, he didn't need to use his gun, just his blade. He tosses the remains of the creature towards Leo from his hiding spot. 

Dammit, he didn't want or need this! He wishes that all this was just a dream. That Leo was still the Lee that Dean knew, that Chuck was still the adorkable guy he knew and was sorta friends with, that Mom and Jack, and Hell, even Crowley and Rowena, were all still alive. 

On the drive back to the bunker after giving Leo a hunter's funeral, he wishes that life could be simple and that they could all be happy, once and for all. 

And despite his depressing thoughts, Dean feels full of hope again. Because now, the old Dean is back. The Dean who fights for what's right, the Righteous Man, is back. 

_Look out, Chuck. 'Cause as soon as we figure out how to gank your ass, it's Game Over and The End for you. And after that, maybe Cas and I can make up. Hopefully. I hope so. Man, dude, I really hope so._

He's smiling the widest he has in a while, singing along to the radio at the top of his lungs, banging the top of the steering wheel with his hands like a drum-set; Driving Baby back home to the bunker and Sammy, and hopefully Cas, too.

Once he's safely parked Baby in the garage and the door loudly announces his return, Sammy starts in on his interrogation: 

_Dude, where the Hell were you?! Where did you go? Why'd it take so friggin' long?! And why did you ignore my calls and texts?_

Dean rolls his eyes but internally smiles at his brother's mother-henning. Eileen gives Dean a knowing look and an amused smirk. He gives her the same facial expression in return and claps Sammy on the back in good humor. 

He walks away towards his bathroom, Sam's demands and protests rolling off his back. 

He smiles, a real smile. Ear-to-ear, the kind that actually reaches his eyes. 

Sure, things are a little worse, and Cas still isn't back home yet and is still ignoring Sam's calls and texts, but Dean now finally has hope. 

He has hope that they're gonna stop God once and for all. They're gonna win, no matter what happens and no matter _how_ it happens. 

And, y'know what? Dean has hope that he can patch things up with Cas, too. 


End file.
